Right now, the goal is trying to find a way to make it so that drivers don't need to do it to be competitive. Maybe the redesign will help, but Jimmie Johnson doesn't think so.

Will the ex Red Bull team find a backer and continue ?

It's looking pretty bleak right now.

Also, I imagine that we'll be seeing images of the new 2013 cars pop up on the web, probably sometime over the summer. It'll be interesting to see if really look that different (less boxy hopefully).

Any new faces for the Chase this year? This year we had Keselowski. I think those RPM dudes will be in the running, and I know this is a broken record, but Martin Truex. Note that TRD and Gibbs are merging engine departments, with the idea of having Gibbs horsepower coupled with TRD reliability.

saturday and yesterday max papis was in monza with the toyota camry. I have got the pleasure to try the seat. Amazing!here there is a video of my friend that was papis passenger during a lap in the monza track around the old oval! don't miss it! http://motorsportran...-show-il-video/

Thanks Crafty!Gonna be tough to beat this years chase.I was very surprised to see Jr. finish so highly in the chase, heck I didn't even think he'd make it.In the spirit of the countdown to Daytona...Tim Richmond

A couple of friends went to Monza rally show last weekend. Sadly, I just couldn't afford to go with them these year. Already saving for Barcelona F1 trip next year.

The only thing that those two friends talked about today was not Loeb or Rossi, but the sound of NASCAR car. Although they went with me these year to Hungaroring (their first F1 race!), they said they would pick that sound before F1's high rev screamers any given day. Jaw dropping moment...

As for the next NASCAR season, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some good JV news...

Apparently Gibbs are refusing to release Zipadelli from his contract to become competition director at SHR. Surely they're better off letting him go rather than forcing him to see out his contract, especially considering his apparent lack of chemistry with Logano and the performance of the 20 car over the past two seasons. They have a ready made replacement with Jason Ratcliff or could even go for someone like Grubb.

Is there any info on what went down between Grubb and Stewart? There must be more to this as success wasn't the issue.

Remember Tony's cryptic "dead weight" comment? That was well before Charlotte, right?

I'm still kinda ticked that Ganassi didn't scoop him up. He's clearly a good crew chief, smart people (like Tony and I, heh) saw that as soon as he won races as Knaus' fill-in after "back window-gate."

J.P. tweeted on the 21st that there will be some exciting news this week. Anybody know what he meant by that? Was it the tournament in Colombia with Brian "Smash Every Car In Sight and Then Some More" Vickers?

Remember Tony's cryptic "dead weight" comment? That was well before Charlotte, right?

I'm still kinda ticked that Ganassi didn't scoop him up. He's clearly a good crew chief, smart people (like Tony and I, heh) saw that as soon as he won races as Knaus' fill-in after "back window-gate."

Coincidentally, Kurt has been going through a divorce this year. Not sure if that is the reason for the extra blowups because he's already been a hothead, but yeah.

And I believe that Stewart was referring to some girlfriend drama that had been done away with when he was referring to dead weight, not Grubb. The fact of the matter is that Stewart was dead in the water the first 26 races to the point where Stewart commented that he didn't deserve to even in the Chase. Regardless of the championship, I think Stewart would be like more consistency throughout the season.

I'm still kinda ticked that Ganassi didn't scoop him up. He's clearly a good crew chief, smart people (like Tony and I, heh) saw that as soon as he won races as Knaus' fill-in after "back window-gate."

I don't think that Grubb wants to go to a struggling team. Would you go to a team like Ganassi when there are jobs for powerhouses like Gibbs (assuming Zippy walks to Stewart or is promoted), Hendrick and Childress available? Keep it 100.

Front Row Motorsports driver lineup for 2012 not set: [Front Row Motorsports owner Bob] Jenkins has been pouring millions into Front Row as it seeks major sponsorship. Staying in the top 35 could help, as could recruitment of a driver such as David Ragan (who is under the Ford umbrella but was phased out at Roush Fenway), David Reutimann or Brian Vickers. [Team manager Jerry] Freeze said he expected the team's crewmembers and drivers to be settled by early January (#34-David Gilliland, #38-Travis Kvapil and #55-J.J. Yeley are not under contract for 2012). "It's such an unusual time to have a fairly good crop of drivers that are out there and available," Freeze said. "Not to mention the guys that drove for us last year."(USA Today)(11-29-2011)

Front Row, I respect you guys because you've gone from a start-and-park team to having two cars in the top 35. Don't ruin it by signing Brian Vickers.

Robby Gordon enjoying the off-season at Glamis.
This place is down the road a piece from me, and had +/- 150k folks show up for some off road goodness last weekend.
If you ever wondered what happened to all those Cadillac Northstar aluminum V-8's, you'll find a slew of them down there in the back of some bad ass sandrails.

Kahne has to be the driver to watch given his late momentum - would have been a strong Chase contender with a Redbull no less had he been able to qualify. Hendrick has had several other much-anticipated drivers struggle upon joining his team historically but I don't see that happening. It might also push Johnson and Knauss to raise their level more than the other team cars have. Likely a big relief for Hendrick who has seen Busch and Keselowski depart and strengthen their competitors.

Robby Gordon enjoying the off-season at Glamis.
This place is down the road a piece from me, and had +/- 150k folks show up for some off road goodness last weekend.
If you ever wondered what happened to all those Cadillac Northstar aluminum V-8's, you'll find a slew of them down there in the back of some bad ass sandrails.

So Jeff Burton likes answering questions on twitter. Someone asked him if he'd get in to a buggy with Robby.. answer "NO!"

He also said "Really pumped up about Drew coming on board. He was tops of my list. Very honored to have him. Lets go kick some ass"

Q "What happens to Luke now?"
A "Announcement soon, gonna be with RCR"

Q "Think crew chief change will help Harvick ?"
A "RCR has a lot happening that will help all teams"

This one made me giggle a bit..
Q "Do you ever go to Harvicks house and race at his go kart tracks with the others?"
A "Hell no!"

Front Row, I respect you guys because you've gone from a start-and-park team to having two cars in the top 35. Don't ruin it by signing Brian Vickers.

It would make sense for them to get David Ragan. Roush has a lot of influence over all the Ford teams considering they all get equipment from him. I could easily see he and Ford telling Front Row that Ragan will be their driver for a year. Maybe they can give Stenhouse a few races as well.

But yeah, Front Row is an example of why I don't mind the start and park teams. Some people just loath them but really 99% do it out of necessity, not profit. Front Row s&p'd to get funds just to keep things going. This past year they were finally able to get some decent sponsors and it allowed them be in the Top 35. Now if they could get Ragan or David Reutimann, they would easily have their most talented driver to date and would give them a chance to see what they are really capable of. As we saw with FURNITURE Row this year, winning a race isn't out of the realm of possibility.

you guys better knock off the Ragan to Front Row, you are going to ruin his world...Anyhoo, the final standings, and purses, list is out, a few things caught my eye.Carl Edwards took home two mil more than Stewy for the season. And came in 2nd.Keselowski came in 5th, and won 5 mil, Juan came in 23rd...and took 5 mil. Go figure.And while you are in the start and park mood, Dave Blaney, who I consider in that group, pinned down 3.2 mil.

For Stewart/Edwards, Carl Edwards won the million dollar purse in the All-Star Race and finished 2nd in the Daytona 500. Also, when Stewart was struggling for most of the season scrapping by with finishes in the top 15, Edwards was consistently collecting top 5 purses.

Don't know about BK/JPM, though. And Dale Jr. is looking lonely in the top 13.

Other tidbits:
Joe Needacheck started 36 races,finished 65th, scored 0 points, yet collected 2.9 mil.
Not a bad way to make a living!
WWMkII searches for the rattiest hauler, a banged up chassis and a crate engine to form the Atlas race team, hires Ross to qualify it for 10% of the purse ;)

We'll never be able to agree on a purse split. Because if we are Start & Park, Inc you can either qualify your own car and keep all the money or I can bash together enough of a vehicle to pass tech every weekend.

We should definitely do the Indy 500 though. I think that's about 250k for last place.

Yeah, you are probably right. I'd be taking the creased fenders out of the split. With no engineer, it would probably cost you a bit for all the wall scrapes...But seriously, Start and Park, Inc and it's start up expences, would probably run about a mil, in the first year it would pay almost 200% profit. Not bad at all.

Yeah, you are probably right. I'd be taking the creased fenders out of the split. With no engineer, it would probably cost you a bit for all the wall scrapes...But seriously, Start and Park, Inc and it's start up expences, would probably run about a mil, in the first year it would pay almost 200% profit. Not bad at all.